Families too poor to heat up food given by charity

Some people in the UK are too poor to be able to benefit from food banks (Picture: AFP/Getty)

Hungry people given food parcels are sending them back – because they are too poor to pay for the electricity to heat them up.

The problem came to light as the Trussell Trust, which distributes three-day emergency meal packages to the needy, called on David Cameron to launch an inquiry into why so many are being forced to turn to food banks.

‘The level of food poverty in the UK is not acceptable,’ said executive chairman Chris Mould, who has seen demand triple since last year.

‘It’s scandalous and it is causing deep distress to thousands of people. The time has come for an in-depth inquiry into the causes of food poverty.’

The trust gave out 350,000 parcels between April and September – three times as many as in the same period last year. Mr Mould said welfare reforms such as the so-called ‘bedroom tax’ had made the situation worse.

Mothers were going hungry for days after their benefits were cut for ‘seemingly illogical reasons’, he said.

Other food bank users included hospital patients who found welfare payments had been stopped or delayed when they came home after surgery.

Earlier this year, chancellor George Osborne suggested food bank use had risen because people had been made aware of the service by jobcentres.

But Chris Johnes, of Oxfam, said yesterday: ‘It is completely unacceptable that in the seventh wealthiest nation on the planet, the number of people turning to food banks has tripled.

‘Oxfam welcomes calls for the prime minister to launch an urgent inquiry.’